Friday, November 18, 2011

The exhibition Entre
líneas: Frade y el dibujo contemporáneo (Between Lines: Frade and Contemporary
drawing) at the Art Museum Dr. Pío López Martínezof the University of Puerto Rico in
Cayey opened at the beginning 2011. 35 contemporary artists participate in this
exhibition in homage to the Puerto Rican artist Ramón Frade and the creative
process of drawing. Among these artists I’m participating with two of my
drawings on paper: “Io Saturnalia” and “Arcadia”, both done in 2010.

Io Saturnalia (2010) pencil and ink on paper 12" x 8"

Last year while in
Puerto Rico I had the opportunity to visit the museum and view some of the work
of Frade I hadn’t seen before, like photographs, drawings and other studies
this master painter executed for his paintings. I consider it important to mention that Frade
is not only considered one of the most important Puerto Rican painters of the
past century but that he was also an exceptional draughtsman, architect and
photographer. The experience was quite refreshing. In my opinion, the
traditional practice with the painter’s trade of preparing preliminary
sketches, taking photographs and drawing has been forgotten by many in the contemporary
“mcculture” driven by immediate consumption of technically undernourished products
with lack of content. In the exhibition

Entre Líneas: Frade y el dibujo contemporáneo, the importance, soundness and validity of drawing as part of the visual repertoire and practice of the contemporary artist is quite evident.

Drawing, preliminary study and photograph by Frade

Frade's Study for El pan nuestro (Our Daily Bread) 1905

During my visit I
had a chance to meet with the curator of this exhibition

Mariel Quiñones Vélez.
Mariel very attentively guided me though the museum and talked about the
collection. I remember we talked about the importance of the process in art and
preparing sketches for a work of art. It is one big important part that is
missed by most people who visit a museum and see the works of great masters. And it is precisely this vital part of the
work of the artist that this museum does great justice by showing us drawings,
preliminary studies, photographic material, documents and even the painter’s
own palette, elements that are so revealing of Frade and his work.

Photo of the Puerto Rican painter Ramón Frade

Furniture, easel, painting palette and other objects from Frade's studio

Me with Mariel Quiñones Vélez, the curator at the museum

To end the
exhibition Entre Líneas: Frade y el
dibujo contemporáneo, the museum invites us to mingle with the participating
artists on December 4th of 2011 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. for reasons that are beyond me I will not be
able to be there with all of you but I encourage you to visit the museum, see
the works and meet these contemporary Puerto
Rican artists in a dialogue with the work of Ramón Frade. The exhibition will be held until January 10th
2012. During the holiday season the museum will be open to the public the
following days from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m.: December 27th to the 30th
& January 2nd to the 4th & the 7th
& 8th of 2012. Starting from January 9th the Museum
will be open with its regular schedule. For
more information you can call 787-738-0650 or senda n e-mail at jonathan.berrios@upr.edu

About this Blog

In this Blog I explore and discuss from an artist's perpective, issues related to contemporary culture, from colonialism to consumerism and how these impact our environment and cultural identities. As an artist coming from Puerto Rico and now living in Houston, Texas, I'm inspired by Spanish Colonial Iconography, Art History, Religious Syncretisms, Comparative Mythology and Pop Culture. I also study the Tarot, Astrology and Alchemy with a special interest in archetypes. All of the issues put forward on this blog derive from these interests and are reflected in my art as well. With these articles I wish to share with the world my own insights into the hidden connections I see between our past and present narratives. The aim is to bring some light into questions artist Paul Gauguin wrote in 1897 on one of his paintings; Where Do we Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?